Vale Is Vital
by Mikewazowski5
Summary: In the world of Remnant, there are four kingdoms, all of then standing strong in the light above the darkness; safe havens from the grasp of Grimm. But when one of these legendary kingdoms is lain to waste by conflict between these two forces, where will its citizens go? More importantly, will they ever return? White Rose, Bumblebee and Arkos shipping. Some language.


Chapter 1 – The Beginning of the End

**A/N- Hey everybody! This is my second Fanfic so don't hate on me to hard. That been said, I hope you enjoy! (Longer A/N at the end)**

**|Mikewazowski5|**

Forever Fall Forest, Outskirts of Vale, Vytal

The young man had been running non-stop for nearly half an hour now, even though he could easily run for another half. His legs were burning and his heart was pumping like it could burst but still he pushed on. Finally, the man came to a sudden stop. He looked up in awe at the gigantic wall that lay in front of him. He had reached his destination. He slipped his backpack off and set it down on the ground beside him. Walking closer to the wall, he stretched out his fingers and rolled his neck. '_Time to get to work'_ he thought. Kneeling down on one knee he raised his hands towards the wall and began issuing his unique semblance to certain sections of the wall.

After about 15 minutes he stood up again and sighed. "I hate it when it takes that long to turn the stupid things off" he grumbled. He delved into his backpack and pulled out a large, black box with a small panel on its side. He reached up and placed it on the side of the wall and flicked a switch, bringing the box to life. _'Well, I'm finished here'_ he thought. He reached down to his holster and pulled out his pistol. Placing it to the side of his head, a wicked smile crept onto his face. '_Karmas a bitch humanity_'

Bang.

Local Park, Residential District, Vale, Vytal

A woman in the brown cloak sat down at the bench and looked over at a family playing in the playground with curiosity. The while one parent was swinging his daughter on the swing set the other was watching her son rock back and forth on a small horse shaped ride . She always liked the thought of having a proper family. Sure she had her comrades, but they were more business partners than family. A loud ping sounded from her scroll snapping her out of her current state. She slid it open and opened the flashing application. Her heart sank deeper into her chest. Displayed on the screen were the medical stats of her fellow teammates and one was flashing red with a messages reading-

'_Fatal Wounds have occurred. Seek medical assistance immediately'_

At first she was saddened by this message but she quickly composed herself. _'He would've wanted me to stay strong'_ she thought weakly. She closed the app and opened another displaying a set of lights. One was green while the opposite one was red. She reached into her cloak and flicked a switch identical to the one the young man had planted on the exterior of the wall. The same wall that protects the citizens of Vale from the creatures that have brought nightmares to every man, woman and child since anyone dare remember. She looked back down at her scroll to confirm that both lights were now glowing bright green. Closing the current app, she opened the messaging app again and typed out a quick message.

_Both lights are green and I'm in position. _

After a short while there was a reply.

_Terrific, you may proceed as planned. Torchwick, out._

She closed her scroll and placed it back inside its designated pocket. She reached up and removed the hood of her cloak to reveal a set of wolf ears standing high and tall. She looked back at the happy family. "Should have listened to us when you all had the chance" she murmured. With that last sentence she pushed the detonator hidden inside her front pocket.

Earlier That Day - Team RWBY, Beacon Academy, Vale, Vytal

Blake opened the door to her dorm and quickly shut it. _'I hope I still have time'_ she thought as she raced over to her bed. She didn't even bother getting changed out of her uniform as it would only waste her precious time of being alone. She reached over to her bedside table and grabbed the book she had been meaning to finish for a while. Just as she had finally settled in and was about to begin reading, Yang busted through door and slammed it behind her.

"That's it! It's final! I am seriously going to kill her this time!" she yelled, her eyes on the brink of changing from their calming lilac to murderous red. Blake just rolled her eyes and placed her book back on the bedside table.

"Yang, how many times do I have to tell you, you can't kill your English teacher for simply doing her job".

"But is another fucking essay really necessary!" yang said grabbing her towel that was resting on her bed.

"Well, we ARE almost halfway into the second year now" commented Blake. "What did you expect?"

"I dunno" Yang blatantly said on her way towards the bathroom. "But definitely not essays that's for sure". Blake just rolled her eyes in response.

At that exact moment Yang shut the bathroom door, their front door opened and Weiss walked into the room with an arguing Ruby right behind her. Blake sighed in defeat with a hint of frustration and placed her book away to read another time. Sitting back on her bed she relaxed her body and closed her eyes, listening to her new source of entertainment, that being the heated argument between her two other teammates

"-and that's why you don't hit two of the same Dust crystals together you dolt!" exclaimed Weiss.

"Hey! It's not like I knew that at the time" pouted Ruby. "Well the important thing is that at least nobody got hurt".

"If only you could say the same for the building we were in" sighed Weiss, sitting down onto her bed.

A slight tremor completely caught Ruby off-guard and she clumsily fell into the lap of the heiress, Weiss's face only inches away from her own. Weiss's face turned a deep shade of crimson, not ready for the sudden confrontation. After what felt like a life time to Weiss, Ruby finally, and very quickly, sat up and brushed herself off. "I am so sorry Weiss! I didn't mean to do that on purpose! I swear!"

"You don't need to apologise to me you dolt!" Weiss snapped her face still burning with embarrassment. "I know it was an accident".

Suddenly without warning, a loud piercing alarm filled the room. The three girls quickly covered their ears from the ear splitting sound. Blake, the one with two sets of ears, screamed and desperately tried to cover her sensitive Faunus ears as well as her human set but no avail. Ruby ran out into the corridor and quickly located the source of the noise; a speaker situated around the corner of the corridor, grabbed Crescent Rose and shot it down.

There was a few seconds of peaceful silence until a highly similar sound came from the bathroom.

"What in a flaming FUCK was that!" screamed Yang.

Ruby rushed back into the room only to be greeted by the sight of Yang busting through the bathroom door almost completely naked save for her small towel that seemed to be struggling to keep everything concealed and under wrapped.

Team JNPR's dorm room's door swung opened and out came their leader Jaune, rushing to inspect where the sudden noises were coming from. Instead, what he saw would most likely be imprinted inside his mind for the rest of his life. His jaw practically hit the floor, the only thing he could do was to stare. Pyrrha was the next one out of team JNPR's door, her shield and spear readied in a defensive position. Once she felt like there was no immediate threat present she relaxed and lowered down her weapons to her side. She turned around to addresses her leader, only to catch him gawking at something that was happening across the hallway. Curious to what he was so entranced in she traced Jaune's eyes direction, her face turning a light red from shock when she saw what was happening inside team RWBY's dorm room.

Yang's towel had fallen off.

Now completely understanding what had Jaune in such a state, she shot him a worrying look and pushed him directly in the shoulder, sending him flying down the corridor. Once Jaune had recovered from that wonderful experience of flying, he slowly limped back to where Pyrrha was standing.

"What was that for?" Jaune said clutching his shoulder.

"You were staring and if Yang had seen you while in that state" Pyrrha said pointing into RWBY's dorm room where both Weiss and Blake were struggling to try to cover up Yang with another towel while she was fighting them off "you would've been dead in a heartbeat".

Jaune smiled sheepishly and thanked her for not only her quick thinking but for also saving his life once again. Pyrrha turned away and murmured a reply in an effort to hide the blush that was creeping its way onto her face

Most of the other students were also beginning to pile out of their rooms and into the hallway, creating a mass amount of confusion. Weiss sat there in silence for a brief moment before finally speaking.

"Wait a minute. That can't be right. That alarm hasn't sounded ever since the–". Weiss stop herself short as one of the intercoms down the corridor sprung to life.

"Attention students, can you all please report to the assembly hall for an emergency briefing. I repeat. Can all students please make their way to the assembly hall for an emergency briefing".

A small wave of fear flooded across the four girls faces. Weiss was the first to sit up and she quickly made her way out the door, pushing her way through the crowd; not stopping to take the time to wait for her teammates. All the others could do was following the crowd.

Professor Ozpin's Office, Beacon Academy, Vale, Vytal

Ozpin took a sip of his coffee as he read over the information that was now quickly beginning to fill the message app on his scroll, all of them concerning the breakout of chaos that was evidently going to spread throughout the city if he didn't do something. He was sitting at his desk hiding behind the large amounts of paper that had gradually built up of time. His office was roughly medium in size, had a basic furniture arrangement and a small bed in the corner which he rarely slept in due to his role as headmaster. After a lot of thought, he finally decided that the only thing he could do was to prepare his students for the worst by activating the early warning emergency system that had been in place ever since the beginning of the walls construction. Out of that time, it has only ever been activated once.

And that time was now.

But being prepared was only the beginning of his plan. While a selection of the students was trying to contain the outbreak, he would initiate an evacuation of the whole city. Sure it sounded like a tad overkill but when there was Grimm this close to citizens that have absolutely no combat training what so ever, he wasn't going to take the risk. Out of the entire collection of messages he was quickly skimming through, one suddenly caught his eye. Instead of the normal white colouring that a message usually has, this message was coloured a dark red. Curiosity got the better of him as he opened it and began to silently read the message inside. A knock on his door broke his concentration and brought him back to the present.

"Come in" he said quietly, solely concerned about the information he was reading. Professor Goodwitch opened the door and shut it behind her.

"Sir, I heard the sirens, is it true? Is there currently a threat to the safety of Vale?" she asked surprisingly calmly.

He sighed and set his now empty coffee mug down on the table. "I'm afraid it's true. A large set of Dust explosions have created sizable holes in the residential district and the northern wall. The explosion in the residential district had minor casualties and that I can live with, but if the creatures of Grimm are to enter the whole in the northern wall, which I'm surprised they haven't already, we will have a lot more blood on our hands". He sat up from his seat and walked over to the circular clock window overlooking the campus of Beacon.

"But wouldn't the Glyphs inside the walls warn us beforehand?"

"It seems they have either created a new piece of equipment that can neutralise the effects-

Goodwitch scoffed in response to Ozpin's previous words. "I personally placed those Glyphs and with my level of skill there is now way possible any piece of equipment could-" Glynda suddenly stopped her little rant when she saw the disapproving stare coming from her superior.

"-or they have simply located someone with the semblance strong enough to disarm them".

"And they are…" questioned Goodwitch, wanting to know the name of the culprit so she could see to it that they were not only dealt with severely, but also to regained some of her lost pride.

"The various reports coming in are all pointing towards the White Fang"

Assembly Hall, Beacon Academy, Vale, Vytal

The whole hall was filled with the whispers and rumours that the city was currently under attack. Professor Ozpin walked onto the centre of the stage and briefly coughed into the microphone, bringing complete silence to the once echoing hall.

"I'll…keep this brief" he stated, pushing his glasses up to sit slightly higher on the bridge of his nose. "I have gathered you all here to inform you that there have been some…unexpected…turn of events. These events are the sudden destruction of the Northern wall protecting the commercial district and the intentional Dust explosion in the centre of the residential district". This caused a flow of whispers among the students below him. Ozpin slammed his cane onto the ground.

"Quiet down! Now, I want the first year students to immediately evacuate via Beacons airship fields." This immediately created uproar in the crowd by the first year students wanting to stay and assist in any way possible. Ozpin slammed his cane onto the ground again.

"This is non-negotiable! My role as headmaster is to protect my students and that is what I intend on doing." Ozpin cleared his throat before continuing.

"The second year students are to provide assistance in getting the citizens organised and evacuated. The evacuation point will be the city docks. Understood?" A mixture of nods and thumbs up coming from the second years confirmed him.

"The third year students are to accompany a portion of the faculty to the explosion in the residential district while the fourth year students are to accompany the remaining faculty in protecting the northern wall from being invaded by Grimm. Please remember these roles. You are all dismissed. " Finishing his speech, Ozpin calmly walked off to the side of the stage.

City Streets, Residential District, Vale, Vytal

"Alright people listen up! Calm and orderly fashion towards the docks!" Jaune yelled from a rooftop overlooking the streets below. A mass of frightened people were slowly but surely making their way down the street in the direction of the city docks were there was a large freighter waiting to evacuate them to safety. "Only take the bare essential with you!"

Jaune looked over to his left to find Ren barely holding the over exited Nora from jumping into the crowd. "It's exactly like herding cattle!" Nora squealed. Ren sighed and continued in trying to hold her back.

Ruby jogged over to where Jaune was standing and looked down at the people below her.

"How're you holding up?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah good so far but I'll be better once all these people are on that freighter"

Ruby nodded in agreement. She was stressing out that they wouldn't be able to safely get everybody out of harm's way in time. Both Jaune's and Ruby's scroll simultaneously pinged. Both leaders quickly slid them open and read the message displayed.

_To the leaders of Teams RWBY and JNPR, the effort to hold back the Grimm force at the northern wall was diminished and the Grimm are now making their way past the Commercial district and into the Residential district. Your teams are requested to assist in the annihilation of the threat posed. Rendezvous with the third year students at the city square for briefings ASAP._

_Goodwitch_

Jaune looked up at Ruby with his eyes wide in shock. The two of them called in their teams and explained the situation.

"We have to go and fight" claimed Yang.

"I agree with Yang. They're in need of assistance" said Pyrrha.

"But what about these people?" asked Blake.

"The other third year teams can handle this. What we need to do is to make sure that the Grimm don't make it this far into the city. Agreed?" said Jaune.

All team members finally nodded and with both teams in an agreement to fight they rushed off towards the front lines of the battle.

City Square, Residential District, Vale, Vytal

Professor Port reached down and tried lifting the last concrete barrier needed to block the street entrance. Only able to lift it inches of the ground, he dropped it back into the ground in defeat.

"Do you need help with that?" asked Glynda who was a little annoyed that the overweight man had not already finished the protective barrier.

"Preposterous! This barrier is no match for my–"

"Yes, yes, your sheer tenacity. I know" interrupted Glynda.

After another attempt and fail on Port's behalf, Glynda was feed up and took it upon herself to do the job. She tapped her riding crop onto the barrier and lifted it up and placed it in its designated spot. With the last piece in place, the giant concrete dam was completed.

"Show off" grumbled Port.

Glynda ignored him and turned her attention to the newly arrived teams RWBY and JNPR.

"Good, you've arrived. We need you to join up with the ranks and prepare to hold the Grimm's advancements. If the force becomes too strong to hold back, I need you to assist in the retreat."

Bothe teams nodded and ran off to bunker down in the makeshift fortifications. With one final check that everything was in place, Glynda and Port retreated back to the fortifications and placed themselves in-between the ranks of the students and then they waited. For a short while there was complete silence hanging around the waiting students. Suddenly the sound of faint growling could be heard, it gradually grew loud and loud until it was deafening. Then sudden as it started it stopped.

Then then the barrier shattered.

Time seemed to slow down as the students simultaneously opened fire on the enemy that had begun to leak its way through the cleared path. The square erupted with deafening sounds of shooting and screaming, but through it all the students could still here the booming voice of Professor Port giving out orders. "Students, there are too many to fight! We're retreating! Team RWBY, lay down covering fire and then join the retreat"

Team RWBY proceeded covering the remaining students while they made their escape out of the square. All over the fortification were freshly torn limbs and bodies of the students that had not survived the onslaught. The amount of Grimm in the square had risen and team RWBY was the only one left on the front lines. Ruby jammed her last magazine into Crescent Rose and slid back the bolt.

"I'll hold them back! You just get back to the harbour!" yelled Ruby towards her team, swinging Crescent Rose clean through the neck of a Beowolf, sliding a fresh bullet into the chamber in the process.

Yang shook her head in disagreement as she swung her fist into the head of a nearby Ursa, caving in its skull. "There is no way I'm going to leave my baby sister alone!"

"Yeah we need to stick together!" said Blake before throwing Gambol Shroud in its ribbon form into the head of a Boarbatusk.

"Guys, trust me! If you don't leave now then you won't be able to make it to the boat. I'll make it in time because of my semblance. Now please get going!"

Yang, Blake and Weiss were reluctant to the idea of leaving Ruby alone but when they realised that what Ruby had said was true, they finally nodded their heads in agreement and sped off in the direction of the docks. Weiss wasn't as worried about leaving Ruby to fend off the last of the Grimm as the other two. After watching her take down that Nevermore in initiation last year, she knew that Ruby could handle herself in a fight. Weiss smiled at the thought of how much Ruby had grown in the last year as she raced towards the docks.

Once the last Grimm in the recent wave had been defeated Ruby didn't waste a second longer. She crouched down into a sprinting position and activated her semblance, shooting herself at a high speed down the empty street.

Weiss, Blake and Yang finally made it to the ship and were greeted by Team JNPR at the entrance.

"Wait, where's Ruby?" asked Pyrrha.

Jaune ran to the back of the Freighter to look for Ruby and saw her red blur. At the sight of Ruby making it back in time made Jaune breathe a sigh of relief, but it was short lived when he noticed the sea of black slowly creeping its way up behind her. "Ruby! Jump!" he yelled.

With one last burst of her aura Ruby sailed through the air, falling into a roll on the deck of the freighter. Unable to stand, she just lay there, taking in the ever present sense of safety. Jaune released he was holding his breath and exhaled. Turning around to look back at the harbour, all he was able to see was the mass amount of Ursa and Beowolfs crowded around on shoreline all howling and growling that their prey had evaded their grasp. The king Taijitus were not as quick to abandon the hunt it seemed, some slipping into the water and attempting to swim after the ship. With a decent amount of time they could have caught up but the vicious barrage from the surviving students made quick work of defenceless beasts.

Yang ran over to the exhausted Ruby and cradled her into her arms. Yang smiled at the sight of Ruby who had already fallen asleep. Quietly she carried her baby sister down to the living quarters and into an unoccupied room. She tucked her into the bed and pulled the light sheet over the top of her. "I'm proud of you sis" Yang said, softly kissing her baby sister on the forehead. She crept out of the room and slowly closed the door behind her, leaving Ruby to sleep.

Top Deck, Shipping Freighter, International Waters

Ozpin strolled down the ships many corridors calmly and orderly. In his mind it was important to uphold an image that he had everything under control, which in its own right was…partly true. Although they had been successful in retrieving a large amount of citizens seeking refuge from the hell that had broken out, they had lost many brave students and teachers while doing so. Looking around the occupied rooms all he saw was despair covered faces of students and citizens alike. Pushing the thoughts out of his mind he pressed onwards till he reached a large silver door. He stepped through the doorway to the main operation tower of the ship and was greeted by the captain of the freighter, a rough looking middle aged man with a black untamed beard and moustache. His attire consisted of a coffee stained jacket, oil covered jeans and a captain's cap, its true colour probably white, but it was hard to tell from the wear and tears it would had endured. Along with the captain, the remaining factuality of Beacon was also there. The captain stepped forward and outstretched his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Ah, Professor, welcome aboard the Poseidon's Gamble. Where are you looking to make port?". Ozpin clasped Sean's hand and shook it firmly before returning it to his cane.

"First of all, the citizens of Vale are in your debt for allowing us to seek refuge on you ship. As for our destination, that's where it becomes slightly complicated". Ozpin slid open his scroll and entered the messaging application. Finding the dark red coloured message he had received earlier, he clicked on the message and read it out loud to the captain.

_Dear Headmaster of Beacon Academy,_

_From the several reports coming to me about the situation currently happening in Vale you are in quite a bit of a dilemma. If this situation escalates and you have no other choice but to evacuate your citizens, I can help you by allowing the surviving people to live in the cities of Mistral. We can see to it that these people will receive all the necessary requirements such as education and financing. _

_The only issue I have with this though is that we can only take so many. I have recently been in touch with headmaster of Erudio Academy in Vacuo and he has also agreed with this course of action but again, he to can only carry so many. My suggestion is that once you have escaped Vale, you split your remaining people and send them each to a separate kingdom. Regardless of what has been said, the decision is ultimately yours._

_Headmaster Von Horn of Sanctum Academy_

Ozpin looked up from his scroll and around the room to all the other teachers.

"So, what is your decision?" enquired the captain.

After a short silence of thinking, Ozpin finally spoke up.

"I don't believe we have a choice"

**A/N- Alright! Thank you for reading! I was in a rush to get this story finished and out of the way so sorry if the quality is bad. I was originally going to split this chapter into half because of its length but I thought it was better off together as just one chapter. Even though it's only around 4,540 words, this is a huge amount for a beginner like me. Hopefully it's a good start and you'll enjoy the rest of the up and coming chapters. I also have another story called Team LASR, So if you're into poorly written pieces of crap then that is a story you'll find hard to put down. **

**It would be awesome if you could leave a review of sorts about what I could do better or what I did best, to give me a rough idea of what you think, or just some positive feedback. It would be greatly appreciated.**


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